One thing I learned quickly about traveling is that just because something looks close on a map, does not mean it will be a short ride. This isn't flat land where you hop on a highway and do 70mph. Travel here involves winding in every different direction to make it through Mother Nature's rough terrain. We should be to Dan's by about noon. I stared out the dusty window and watched the mountains slowly pass by. Houses with cows and horses nestled in the hillsides were so cool to see. The temperature rose as we descended. As we approached an hour of driving, we started to pay attention for our stop. We had to get off at an intersection of two main roads where many busses pass and that is where we would board the next bus. Our bus screeched to a very dusty hault, and Niki says, "Alright this is us." Us five girls get off the bus, load our heavy backpacks onto our shoulders and walk over to the corner of the intersection for this bus stop. Turning the corner, we see a young man and woman and their child standing by a roadside shed, also waiting. Nicki, confirms with them that this is where we stand for the next bus, and we set our stuff down into the dusty gravel. Cars whiz by, some honking their horns "meep meep" (as usual) as we wait. Niki hears a bus coming, steps out to the road and sees that it says NACOYA in the front window...it was our bus already...perfect! She flags and flags, but this bus seems to be coming in hot. Actually, that bus doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. Niki goes from flagging to throwing her hands up in the air like, "What the hell?!", as the bus speeds right past us. The young couple told us that a bus comes every hour, so we disappointedly, make our selves comfy for a long and boring hour wait. Camped out next to a large chain link fence that looks like a mechanics shop or something like that, we lather up with sunscreen, change into our tank tops and shorts and prepare for a long and hot wait. Niki and Jil go over to the gas station on the corner for some snacks as the rest of us begin a game of "Coffeepot" a really fun game we had played a lot the day before. The way it works is someone chooses a verb in their head which is then disguised as 'coffeepot'. The rest of us begin to ask questions about coffeepotting to try and figure out what verb she chose. For example, "Can anyone coffeepot?" or "Is it appropriate to coffeepot in public?" We continue to play this game as well as others, for over an hour. More and more busses pass for other cities while we wait patiently, eating our snacks and playing our childish games. At one point we look over and see an iguana-like lizard about eight inches long which served as some entertainment for a second.
After a while, a bus pulls up that can take us to Nacoya. A second bus pulls up in front of them, also going to Nocoya. I guess when it rains, it pours! We board the second bus to find that it's totally loaded already and we are standing in the aisle. Within a couple of minutes, we sit down on the rubber floor and get comfy for a long, hot, and crowded ride. After what seemed like maybe an hour, we reached a bus stop in Nacoya, right in front of a Burger King. Grabbing our backpacks, we walked across the steer to a neighboring street corner where we would wait for a taxi to take us to the bus station. A truck taxi driver and his girlfriend pulled up and offered to take a portion of us. We asked him how much it would be to take all of us because a couple of us were willing to ride in the pickup bed, and before you know it, we were loaded up and on our way for only a dollar a piece.
At the bus station, we find that the next bus will be there in a little over an hour, so we wait some more. An old school bus pulls up for NOSARA and we board our bus for the coast. Our last bus ride for the day, before blue waters and tropical drinks. Those things sounded so appealing by this point in the day. I was tired of waiting and sweating, knowing that an awesome little surf town with an ocean breeze was just an hour away.
The 1960s bus began its way out of Nacoya and into the country side. The bus reminded me of the movie Simon Birch with the old windows that you had to open by sliding the plastic buttons inwards, while pulling down. The front door only opened by the driver pulling the old lever. This had to have been the loudest bus ride I've ever taken. We bumped and clunked and rattled our way through the country side as dust came rolling through the windows. I put my iPod earbuds in to try and dull the loud rattles of the old bus, and even then, it was hilariously loud. My iPhone played me a soundtrack of my trip as country homes, ranches, cattle and mountains rolled by out my window. Certain songs, more emotional than others. I continued to wipe the dust off my phone as I could see and feel it layering on the brown leather seats and my body. I finally spotted a blue ocean coast through and behind some cattle grazing and knew we were close.
After a long and bumpy bus ride, the bus stopped on a palm covered dirt road in front of a place called Coconut Harry's at about 2:30. It was an instant feeling of paradise! Music playing from a very Tiki looking place specializing in all types of smoothies confirmed we had reached our surf town destination. They advertised mango, pineapple, coconut and other fresh and tropical fruits. The store sold surf boards, and other surfing supplies. We all ordered a fresh tropical drink and waited for their friend Dan to arrive.
Dan is from England and had lived in Korea for years, which is how the girls know him. He has since, moved down to Costa Rica to start up an adventure business offering spearfishing, ATVs, zip-lines, surf lessons, and more.
Not ten minutes into our smoothie, a dusty, four wheel drive, safari looking vehicle, pulls up and parks. Dan hops out in a neck brace, (from an ATV accident about a week or so ago), and greets us all with a hug and kiss on the cheek, accompanied by a thick British accent. We load our gear into his vehicle and set out to see the small town.
First stop was the beach by his work. On our way, we stop and chat with people he knows walking down the road. Dan seems to know everyone, being an entrepreneur in a small friendly town. A rocky and bumpy road leads us to our first good look at the beach. People are parked with empty surf board racks on their vehicles, out enjoying the wavy coast. He turns around in the cul de sac and we check out his office while he locks up and parks the last ATV for the day. It was Sunday so people were returning their rentals and Dan was done for the day.
Next location we pulled up and parked at was his friends hostel, "Almost Paradise". We pile out of the ride and climb up to a second story, balcony bar overlooking the ocean, palm trees and all! A reggae-like beat plays and we are surrounded by young, tan, surf town folk, bellied up to the bar. Dan is greeted by his friends and we grab some sangria and bloody marys. Michelle, the owners wife brings us some small food samples as we sip our drinks. From there we visited a beach right outside a nice restaurant called La Luna where we actually got to touch the water. I've been to a few different ocean beaches before in my life, but this was gorgeous! To our left and right in the distance, cliffs jutted out into the water with vegetation surrounding. The best part was how little people were on the beach. As far as our eyes could see, there were probably only ten people. During our bumpy rides from place to place, Dan explained how much of a gem this place is. Kind of a hush hush place on the map, Nosara thrived on surfers, growing more and more. That explained why I couldn't find anything about this in our travel books and it's kind of a bummer to see something so secret and fun, developing bigger and bigger. Like Dan explained as a business owner here though, "You're never gonna beat it, so you might as well join it."
Last stop was the local market for some dinner supplies and then we pulled into Dan's villa. The car was pretty darn silent as we pulled up in awe. Large goldenrod, adobe walled buildings, surrounded with green paradise plants and leafs, is what Dan had been calling home. It was like a resort! Kicking off our dusty flip flops, and dusting the sand off our feet, we entered the cool condo. Bamboo fans spun slowly at the top of the tall ceilings and cool ceramic tile laid beneath our feet. A large marble island centered the kitchen and bedrooms began to the left. Our room had two queen beds made neatly with a ton of floor space. It felt like we were checking into a five star resort. As Dan is showing some girls around, the rest of us are silently mouthing, "HO-LY you know what ;)" They had all assumed he had a nice place but weren't expecting anything like this.
Jil and I quickly threw on our suits when we learned there was a pool and went for a dip to wash the day's layer of dust off our bodies.
After dinner, we put on some cute sundresses, my first bit of eyeliner and mascara in five days and headed to the beachside restaurant we had visited earlier so we could get some evening cocktails. Walking up for our reservations, looked like a scene from The Bachelor. The oceanside restaurant we had visited earlier had transformed into the most relaxing, environment I have ever seen in a restaurant. Spotlights light up the tops of the palms surrounding the perimeter of the sandy yard. Patio furniture sets are lit by candles on the table, and a glowing umbrella while the ocean waves crash right on the other side of the tree line. Us girls grab the couch and comfy chairs and Dan pulls up a beanbag chair to sit at the low glass coffee table in front of us and we order our drinks. I enjoy a fresh passion fruit and mint mojito as we chat about Korea adventures and memories these guys had experienced together.
That night my head hit the pillow, was the best sleep yet. A healthy dinner, a yummy mojito, and cool crisp sheets to top off my night erased the rest of our tiresome traveled day and put me right to sleep. I couldn't wait for a beach day the next day, we were definitely due!
Pics:
1) Niki and I on our taxi ride to the bus terminal in Nicoya
2) Coconut Harry's
3) Our room
4) Beautiful beach view
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